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Continue reading...Bundee Aki start in doubt for Ireland’s Six Nations opener against France over ‘disrespect’
Veteran dropped for alleged outburst at match officials
Andy Farrell dealt further blow by Hugo Keenan injury
Ireland are set to kick off the Six Nations next week without two of their most influential and experienced backline players. Bundee Aki and Hugo Keenan, key members of last year’s British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, should have been involved against France next week but are now facing spells on the sidelines for contrasting reasons.
Aki has not travelled to Ireland’s training camp in Portugal following a “misconduct complaint” relating to an alleged post-match incident with match officials at the weekend after Connacht’s URC game against Leinster.
Continue reading...A tale of two cities: London flex their muscles but Salford face uphill battle
The clubs are both in the Championship this season but one is minted and the other is playing with a shoestring budget
To get to their Challenge Cup tie on Saturday, Salford fans had to find their way to the end of a dark, long and winding road to reach the lights of Chiswick Rugby. It was a metaphor for their last year. A few months ago Salford’s stay in Super League was ending in chaotic scenes and Hammersmith Hills Hoists were being crowned Southern Conference champions. And yet, when the clubs met by Barnes Bridge on Saturday night, many aficionados expected them to be well matched.
Hammersmith, formed by Aussie backpackers two decades ago and jokingly nicknamed after a washing line, had never seen a night like it: a couple of hundred Salford fans in red and white, chanting and banging drums, circled their 4G pitch to urge on their new team – a bunch of callow youths who would either rise to the occasion or crack. Many neutrals had come down to see a giant-killing.
Continue reading...The Breakdown | So much at stake and Six Nations just the start in ‘massive year for rugby union’
We may know the sport’s future is bright when trendsetters worldwide are wearing Fabien Galthié-style shades
On the surface it was business at usual at this year’s Six Nations launch in a chilly Edinburgh. Had the city’s most famous literary sleuth poked his nose into the venue at the top of the Royal Mile, Inspector Rebus would have clocked the usual suspects: head coaches trying not to divulge any secrets, captains quietly studying their opposite numbers and content creators seeking to “jazz up” their tournament previews.
This year’s booby prize went to the “influencer” who asked Caelan Doris, Ireland’s captain, whether or not he liked Fabien Galthié’s thick-rimmed glasses. It was almost on a par with the Breakdown’s all-time classic: the day someone asked Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, to pick his favourite motorway service station. “Taunton Deane,” came the instant reply. “Because it means we’re almost home.” Brilliant.
Continue reading...England captain Maro Itoje absent from training camp to attend mother’s funeral in Nigeria
Borthwick: ‘We are deeply saddened for him’
Itoje misses launch of 2026 Six Nations
England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother’s funeral. Itoje was conspicuously absent from the official Six Nations championship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join up with his squad until Wednesday evening.
With the tournament commencing on Thursday week every team is scrambling to be ready for their opening games but Steve Borthwick, England’s head coach, has given the Saracens lock permission to miss the start of this week’s training block in Girona. “He is in Nigeria for the funeral of his mother and we are all deeply saddened for him,” said Borthwick, whose side open their campaign at home to Wales on Saturday week.
Continue reading...Waratahs forward cops ban for punching teammate during heated training session
Waratahs forward Miles Amatosero has been slapped a four-match suspension for punching a teammate and allegedly leaving him with a facial fracture during a training session earlier this month.
Borthwick’s task is to strike the right balance with thriving England ready for takeoff | Robert Kitson
Head coach is excited by what his team could achieve as the Six Nations opener against Wales looms into view
Precise formations, instant decision-making, absolute synchronicity. It is not hard to grasp why Steve Borthwick and his assistants spent an instructive day with the Red Arrows last month in preparation for a Six Nations campaign in which they would love to soar even higher and leave their rivals gazing at their vapour trails.
Squadron leader Borthwick was particularly struck by the clarity of the Red Arrows operation – “They were so clear and to the point about what they must do better” – and how the world-renowned air display team choose their elite personnel. “The lead pilot basically said: ‘Every one of these pilots is a great pilot. What we’re going to select on is the character of these people.’ I thought how great that is and how consistent that is with what we do.”
Continue reading...Bullish Borthwick tells England to target Six Nations triumph in Paris
Uncapped props called up to boost front-row options
‘We want England fans flooding across the Channel’
Steve Borthwick is plotting an English raid on Paris and has called on his side to set their sights on clinching a first Six Nations title in six years in the French capital on Super Saturday.
England have not won the title since the Covid-hit championship in 2020 and last managed the grand slam in 2016 when Eddie Jones’s side clinched a fifth straight victory at the Stade de France.
Continue reading...‘Thinking a lot less’: Tommy Freeman on the secret to international rugby
England wing on handling Test pressure, the ‘awesome’ setup at Pennyhill Park and Northampton’s big ambitions
Tommy Freeman is known for being multi-talented, so it is fitting that he arrives brandishing a golf club. Thankfully none of the ensuing questions provoke its use in a non-sporting capacity. The Northampton back’s handicap will have to wait, because after a trip to Sale on Saturday he will dive into England’s Six Nations camp, surfacing in mid-March after the concluding fixture in Paris.
Les Bleus are the tournament favourites but if Steve Borthwick’s team stay on an upward curve – they have won 11 straight Tests – there is a decent chance that encounter at Stade de France in seven weeks’ time will decide the title. An expansive Saints side also top the Prem before round 10, and the ever-improving Freeman personifies the prevailing effervescence of club and country.
Continue reading...Borthwick a contrast to Galthié as he picks England squad from position of strength
France selection for Six Nations caused a huge stir but England’s head coach has no need to spring any shocks
Steve Borthwick names his England squad for the Six Nations on Friday and as much as we do not know about the precise makeup of the chosen party, there is plenty that we do. As much fun as it may be to imagine Borthwick rocking up at Twickenham in a sharp navy suit, ice-white trainers and a few selection bombshells in his pocket, the England head coach is not about to borrow from Fabien Galthié’s playbook.
Galthié’s decision to omit Damian Penaud, Grégory Alldritt and Gaël Fickou has created such a stir because it is radical by any measure but the point here is that Borthwick’s squad, in comparison to England’s closest rivals for the Six Nations title, is significantly more settled. He has a couple of injury concerns, as is always the case at this time of year, and he is expected to reward the recent form of the uncapped Greg Fisilau with a call-up, but what is likely to be most telling is how few surprises it contains.
Continue reading...Shock contract clause leaves Crichton NRL return ajar after star confirms ‘dream’ code switch
Australian Kangaroos and NSW Blues representative Angus Crichton is set to become the latest NRL star to depart the Sydney Roosters with the backrower agreeing to a code switch to rugby union.
Million-dollar war chest: The eight stars Roosters could target… including Crichton replacement
Over the past two seasons, the Sydney Roosters have farewelled 14 players, including international stars, premiership winners and future icons of the game.
Wales coach Steve Tandy left trapped in middle of toxic Ospreys and Cardiff saga
Doubt over regions is fast escalating into a civil war
Six Nations squad announcement overshadowed
The prevailing mood in Welsh rugby has been frequently dark, but rarely this bible black. Once upon a time a Six Nations squad announcement would have topped the agenda across the country; on Tuesday it felt like a semicolon in a much bigger narrative. Even Wales have never selected seven players whose club is in imminent danger of being axed by their own union.
The bare facts of the situation are increasingly stark for all involved. The existing owners of Ospreys, Wales’s most successful region of the past two decades, have just been nominated controversially as the preferred bidders for Cardiff, potentially clearing the way to reduce the number of Welsh professional sides from four to three. The internecine politics have become so increasingly toxic that Steve Tandy, the national head coach, had to plead for rugby‑related questions at his lunchtime squad announcement.
Continue reading...The Breakdown | England prepare to reveal Six Nations hand with Borthwick aware of ticking clock
The Six Nations is a key staging post on the road to next year’s World Cup and with injuries biting, Wales offer the only real chance to experiment
On the face of it the Champions Cup has been helpful for the majority of Six Nations head coaches before this year’s championship. Gregor Townsend, for example, would dearly love Scotland to play with the purpose and passion currently oozing from Glasgow and will doubtless wish to ensure his national side exhibit similar characteristics.
Ditto France. If Fabien Galthié overlooks the electric form of Matthieu Jalibert, particularly with Romain Ntamack out injured for the next few weeks, his trademark thick-rimmed glasses must have misted up. There can be no rational reason not to bury la hachette with the Bordeaux fly-half and invite him to combine as brilliantly with Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Damian Penaud as the trio do at club level.
Continue reading...Not like the old days? In truth, there has never been a better time to watch sport | Sean Ingle
For all the golden moments, rewatching coverage from 40 years ago was a lesson in how much things have improved
Forty years ago this month, the Pet Shop Boys track West End Girls topped the charts. Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea were locked in a four-way battle for the title. And Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on Wogan. Terry: “This new film you’ve made, Commando: it’s very violent isn’t it?” Arnie: “Actually, it’s low-key. I only kill around 100 people.”
How do I know this? Because Facebook’s algorithm serves it to me daily. Terrifyingly, it understands me better than I understand myself. A half-forgotten goal, race or innings? That is my sugar-salt-fat magic. An old Top 40 chart or TV listing? My double‑strength nicotine patch.
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